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No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

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Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#81

Post by Animats »

In Firefox, right click on popups and bring up "Inspect Element". Then find the top level element of the popup in the inspector, and Delete Node. The modal disappears. This even bypasses some paywalls. Some sites won't then scroll, though.

An add-on to dismiss modals should be possible. Most people do ad-removal add-ons by looking for explicit HTML text, but there are more general approaches. Look for a big box that has a high Z index. That's the modal. Then proceed up the tree until you rejoin with the main document text. Delete the subtree with the modal. Then force scrolling behavior to return to the default.

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#82

Post by zipwitch »

spinlock wrote: post #76
cmahler7 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this, people are too worried about the size of their list as opposed to actual engagement. If they don't open your emails they're just costing you money with your ESP. If you have good content people will search hard for a way to get on your email list if necessary, i've done it before.

this is why it's good to require a credit card for a free trial. it will kill the top of your funnel but the bottom will actually get fatter because those who do sign up for the free trial actually want to demo your software.

Are there numbers behind that reasoning?

I ask, because that doesn't match up well with my (anecdotal) experience as an end user. When I'm searching for software to either replace something I'm currently using but dissatisfied with or when I'm doing something new (to me), I want to demo candidates so I can get a feel whether I like them or not. I don't mind paying for quality software (though much quality software is free), but requiring credit card info for even a demo is the exact sort of hurdle which I won't put up with. The cost (in time, and potentially wasted time in the future) is just too high.

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#83

Post by radley »

> This is because there is no single implementation of modal windows. Many are custom-built.

Actually, 90% are from the same few plugins. Unfortunately, those plugs are designed with dark patterns to prevent Element Hiding Helper or Element picker from removing anything from that domain.

Some use use randomized IDs each page creation. The worst offenders remove the page scrollbar during the modal so even if you can hide the modal, you can no longer any pages on that site.

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#85

Post by oftenwrong »

jasonkostempski wrote: post #2

NoScript unless they earn the privilege of executing code. I wish whatever spec would have covered the concern had stated script execution MUST prompt the user.

It seems like every HN thread about a "web annoyance" ends up with a comment extolling the virtues of NoScript. I don't surf the web without it!

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#86

Post by Karawebnetwork »

pcmaffey wrote: post #31

No, I don't want to chat with someone either. So please stop beeping at me and popping up a chat modal.

You would be surprised at the number of chats e-commerce websites receive in a day.

One of our clients (selling clothes targeting 40+ women) had their sales almost double when we added in a simple livechat widget.

Since I discovered that they actually put helpful people behind those chats I've started to use them. Now I ask questions with all my online transactions. "How is the warranty? Do clients return this product a lot? Do you have any similar products to recommend me?", etc.

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#87

Post by old-gregg »

IMO it doesn't worth the time to discuss appropriate and inappropriate uses of JavaScript. It's way simpler to disable it entirely. I use two browsers: Firefox with "YesScript" extension which keeps the black list of sites where JS is disabled: see a popup? laggy scrolling? sticky headers? Bam! hit the button and you won't see it again.

For work, where web applications like Google suite matter, I use Chrome.

Some time ago browser developers realized that letting Javascript open new windows was a bad idea and every browser now has a setting (on by default) to block pop-ups. IMO now it's time to introduce a few other anti-abuse settings. My candidates are:

  - code execution on "scroll" events
  - CSS animations (web devs, your transitions are NEVER smooth, even of MBP)
  - position:fixed (auto-replace to position:static)

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#88

Post by radley »

Animats wrote: post #81

In Firefox, right click on popups and bring up "Inspect Element". Then find the top level element of the popup in the inspector, and Delete Node. The modal disappears. This even bypasses some paywalls. Some sites won't then scroll, though. An add-on to dismiss modals should be possible. Most people do ad-removal add-ons by looking for explicit HTML text, but there are more general approaches. Look for a big box that…

Hiding the element doesn't work in more than half the cases. Some plug-ins randomize the modal ids. Others hide the page scollbar unless you interact with the modal.

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#89

Post by jdavis703 »

makecheck wrote: post #56

Publishers should approach everything from the point of view of a person on the street: if it wouldn’t be acceptable in real life, WHY is it acceptable online!? The equivalent of a pop-up newsletter modal is somebody on the street PULLING you aside, standing directly in front of you and preventing you from going any further until you answer their question. All without bothering to observe what you were doing beforeha…

You mean like a bouncer checking IDs at the bar? If I don't want to give my ID to a stranger, then I just don't visit that bar, or find one with more lax security..

Re: No, I Don’t Want to Subscribe to Your Newsletter

#90

Post by techsupporter »

Animats wrote: post #81

In Firefox, right click on popups and bring up "Inspect Element". Then find the top level element of the popup in the inspector, and Delete Node. The modal disappears. This even bypasses some paywalls. Some sites won't then scroll, though. An add-on to dismiss modals should be possible. Most people do ad-removal add-ons by looking for explicit HTML text, but there are more general approaches. Look for a big box that…

Do you know of a way, say in the JavaScript console (I'm guessing?), to reset scroll behaviors? I'm not clever enough with JS or CSS to have figured it out. Deleting the modal using the inspector is what I do but I can't get around the scrolling...
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